23-ORD-149
June 29, 2023
In re: Bobbie Coleman/Lee County Clerk
Summary: The Lee County Clerk (the “Clerk”) violated the Open
Records Act (“the Act”) when she failed to respond to a request to inspect
records within five business days.
Open Records Decision
On May 22, 2023, Bobbie Coleman (“Appellant”) emailed two requests to the
Clerk to inspect various records relating to the May 2023 primary elections.1 Having
received no response by June 1, 2023, the Appellant initiated this appeal.
Under KRS 61.880(1), upon receiving a request for records under the Act, a
public agency “shall determine within five (5) [business] days . . . after the receipt of
any such request whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the
person making the request, within the five (5) day period, of its decision.” Here, the
Clerk has not responded to the notice of appeal issued by this Office, or otherwise
explained why she did not respond to the Appellant’s request within five business
days. Accordingly, the Clerk violated the Act.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating an action in the
appropriate circuit court under KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882 within 30 days from
the date of this decision. Under KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General shall be notified
1
Specifically, the Appellant sought video surveillance tapes of the election machines from 6:00 p.m.
on May 16, 2023, to 6:00 p.m. on May 17, 2023. The Appellant also sought, “in spreadsheet format (.csv
or .xlsx) [the Clerk’s] complete voter sign-in rosters for every precinct, absentee, early, and election
day voters from the May 2023 primary.”of any action in circuit court, but shall not be named as a party in that action or in
any subsequent proceedings. The Attorney General will accept notice of the complaint
emailed to OAGAppeals@ky.gov.
Daniel Cameron
Attorney General
s/ Marc Manley
Marc Manley
Assistant Attorney General
#220
Distributed to:
Bobbie Coleman
Kimberly Noe
Tom Hollon